Lost
by IneffableStorm
Summary: The other Animorphs have been through more life-or-death situations than the average military defense teams in the United States. They thought they had seen it all with aliens secretly invading, but then the Yeerks discovered a weapon no one had anticipated: a girl roughly Jake's age. The only problem: she can't remember a thing. Will she be caught, or will the Animorphs intervene?
1. Looking

_**Sorry for the short chapter. If this seems familiar, that's because I have this up on another site as well.**_

_**Onwards!**_

I hadn't wanted to be the one to go to the mall, especially not with Ax in human morph, but when you draw straws and end up with the shortest one, you have no choice in the matter.

My name is Jake. No last name, at least, not one I'm willing to give you. We have to be careful, us Animorphs.

Who are we? Our team is made up of four humans, a bird-boy, and an alien. We fight the Yeerks, grey slugs without eyes, noses, mouths, ears, and limbs. They crawl inside living creatures' heads and wrap their slimy bodies around brains. This gives them absolute control of said being. You can't fight them no matter how strong you may be. Controllers, our group likes to call them. They've enslaved various races over the years on distant planets no one on Earth could ever imagine. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxons had all been turned into Controllers, except for a small settlement of Hork-Bajir we had managed to free.

The Yeerks are trying to conquer yet another species, one that will give them the numbers to defeat all those who opposed them throughout the rest of space: humans.

Why haven't you heard of this war before? That's because the leader presiding over their mission, Visser Three, is making the process slow so that they could have taken over a large enough population without us setting off bombs that will kill our planet, and their potential hosts. They need us alive, after all.

And I'll tell you who's been foiling their progress. Rachael, Cassie, Marco, Tobias, Ax, and me. Remember when I said an alien and bird kid? Ax's actual name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, and he's an Andalite. Tobias is a _nothlit_, someone who stayed over two hours in a morph. He's permanently stuck in a red-tailed hawk's body. But that's a conversation for another time.

Ax and I were walking around the local mall together. The others were also there, but we made sure not to gather together often. If people started thinking of us as a group, Yeerks might piece together that six kids and six Andalite bandits sounded a little too convenient. Call us paranoid if you like, but I'm not going to get turned into a slave over details like that.

"Cinnabon," the alien said with his human mouth, playing with how the letters felt. "Ciin-ah-buhn. Bunzah."

"We're not here to eat," I reminded him. "We're here to investigate."

"Yes, Prince Jake. Ake. Yez, princcce."

The pair of us casually strolled through the mall, looking for the cause of the spontaneous black-out that lasted a minute or so. It wasn't the sudden lack of power that had us Animorphs investigating. It was the Yeerks' reactions to it. They were scrambling around frantically, practically foaming at the mouths, and the Visser was killing off more and more of his subordinates than normal. Whatever the source was, it had to be worth finding it first.

After so long, though, my enthusiasm and patience were nearing their ends with Ax and his practicing 'mouth sounds' as he often called it. I got the word out to my companions that it was time to shut down for the time being.

Seeing as most of us were still in school, we had homework, projects, assignments due, and chores to complete as it was, but I promised we'd continue looking later on.


	2. Captured

_I stood in the mall, and everything looked normal. People walked about, talking and laughing. Kids cried to parents from exhaustion from missing their afternoon naps. Teens gossiped in groups of various sizes. Elderly couples strolling around with their grand-kids._

_And, for some reason, I just stood in one place, watching it all pass me by, a sea of faces I'd never remember._

_Suddenly, a person cleared their throat behind me. Turning, I saw who it was._

_It was a girl about my age with Rachael's height. Her skin tone was two shades lighter than Marco's, and her irises were -oddly- two different colors; the right sapphire blue, and the left stormy grey. The girl's hair was jet-black and had been styled in a layered cut that reached halfway down her shoulder blades. No matter how picky the person, no one could deny that she was beautiful._

_"Who are you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side slightly. Before I could answer, she spoke again. "Who are you, Jake? Who are you and them?"_

_The girl pointed off to the side, and I noticed all of the people were gathered around a group of five kids. No, not kids. They changed into animals. There was a wolf, bear, gorilla, hawk, and some weird deer-human-scorpion creature. They were my fellow comrades, my friends._

_The crowd began shouting, throwing things. Some pulled out guns, and others fired dracon beams. It was clear they wouldn't stave off the Controllers for long._

_I looked on in horror and tried to help, but my body refused to move. It was as though I was glued in place. Desperately, I turned to the girl, but she was nowhere in sight._

_Laughter echoed in my head, loud and mocking. Pathetic fools, Visser Three boomed, his thought-speak directed at everyone in the mall. I've captured the so-called Andalite bandits all thanks to Aria!_

_The animals cried out, attacks weakening from blood-loss due to the weapons being fired at them. Morphing back into humans would mean becoming Controllers, and us Animorphs refused to allow the Yeerks to posses more morph-capable hosts. We agreed from the very beginning that we'd rather die than to be infested, that we'd fight to our deaths._

_The mob closed in, surging forward to over-take the injured animals. They were tied up and dragged toward a large pool dug into the mall floor. The liquid was green with a hint of silver, and had the consistency of melted metal. Either end had a wooden pier, and was guarded by armed Hork-Bajir. My friends had their heads forced into the Yeerk Pool, slimy slugs climbed into their now human ears, drilling into their heads, and wrapping around their brains. The aliens took control of their bodies and actions. They were no longer human, at least not completely._

Once they were infested, all eyes turned to stare at me. Their eyes all had an evil gleam in them, and I felt my legs turn into Jello. So many people. I wouldn't last ten seconds.

As they closed in, I could only panic silently to myself. Arms reached out, grabbing to hold me down, make me one of them.

And I couldn't do a thing about it...

"Ah!" I yelled, bolting up in bed. My heart felt close to jumping out of my chest, and I was sweating despite the fact I left my bedroom window open.

It took me a minute to realize I had just been dreaming. The Yeerks didn't capture us. We were free, all of us.

Sighing heavily, I dropped back on my mattress. "It was a nightmare," I said out loud to myself. "It wasn't real.."

As the seconds passed, I went over the events that had happened, but the entire thing became a fuzzy haze. The only thing I could make out was the girl's face, but.. were her eyes blue or grey?


	3. Group Discussion

"Can you hand me a pill from that bottle?" Cassie asked me.

I spotted the twist-top container sitting on the side of one of the stalls. Opening the top, I took out a white oval capsule and gave it to her.

We were inside her barn, which was actually the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where her parents took in sick or injured animals. There were numerous cages filled with birds, squirrels, and other such creatures. At the moment, Cassie was tending to a blue-jay with a broken leg.

"I have to tell you something," I told her, hesitating.

I was talking only to her for two reasons: One, Cassie's the most down-to-earth person I know. Two, she's open-minded to many things, and doesn't judge anyone for what they do if it's for the right reasons.

"What is it?"

"Last night, I.. I had a dream."

She stopped, facing me. "More nightmares?"

Sighing, I ran a hand through hair. "Something like that." I went on to explain the details of my dream, but they were vague. The girl, however, she was vivid up until her eyes. And Visser Three; his words also rang clear in my mind.

Cassie's face displayed her concentration and consideration. You could see the wheels turning in her head.

"Jake.."

"Please don't say it was just a dream," I cut in. Ever since Elfangor gave the five of us morphing abilities, I've had a few dreams with meanings behind them like when I was made into a Controller for three days, and with the Crayak.

She pursed her lips into a thin line before giving me an understanding smile. "I was going to say we should all avoid the mall for a while."

I smiled weakly back at her. Before I could thank Cassie, a red-tailed hawk perched in the rafters.

《In coming,》Tobias said, preening his feathers.

Erek the Chee came in through the barn doors, his blue eyes and human features nothing more than a holographic projection to cover the copper android underneath.

"Is it only you two?" he asked, his hologram showing signs of anxiousness.

"Yeah, we were just talking," I told him.

Erek grew gravely serious. "I assume you've investigated into the black-out?"

I nodded. He had been the one to tell us about the Yeerks efforts to find the source.

"The Yeerks are about to start combing the woods in search of the cause. They.. they think the Andalites are to blame and are planning to take the Domn Ship out of orbit."

Cassie frowned. "Do you think more Andilaites came to Earth?" she asked me.

Erek shook his head. "The last time, their mission was carried out by unimportant personnel and criminals. The likelihood of more being sent here is less than 5%."

"What are we going to do, Jake?" Cassie questioned.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I came to a conclusion. "I think we should call in the others."

Once everyone (Rachael, Marco, Tobias, Cassie, Ax, Erek, and I) was there, I began from the beginning, with my dream.

"So let me get this straight," Marco, my best friend, said. "The next time we step foot in the mall, we'll loose our minds?"

"Can't loose what you don't have," Rachael quipped.

He gave her a slow clap, grinning and nodding his head. He not only laughed at others, but he appreciated any kind good jokes even if it was making fun of him.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But we can't let that stop us. Erek says they're going to check the woods. It won't take them long before they come across Tobias or Ax, then the rest of us."

"If there's a remote chance of us dying there, then shouldn't we _avoid_ the mall?"

"Do you want Visser Three getting this thing?"

"Easy for you to say, Xena. You're always ready to fight, more so when the likelihood of death is high. Some of us would like to live to see our next birthdays."

"We'll vote," I said.

"For," Rachael decided instantly.

《For》Tobias agreed.

Marco rolled his eyes. "No matter what I vote, I know I'll be out-voted.." He shook his head as he raised his hand.

《I will side with Prince Jake》Ax said.

I raised mine. "It's unanimous, then. On Saturday, we'll go in pairs to fly over the woods. If anyone sees something out of the ordinary, one finds the others, and the other stays behind to keep eyes on it."


	4. The Search

Flying above the tree tops on warm thermals is enough to put anyone in a good mood. I was in my falcon morph and Marco was an ospray. We made sure to fly at a distance in case a bird watcher happened to be looking. Two birds of pray hanging together wasn't normal by any means.

The others were also in pairs, spread out to cover more distance. This was our third time switching locations due to lack of progress. Everyone was starting to get tired, but Erek insisted the source of the black-out was somewhere.

What could it be? Why would the Yeerks assume it could take down their ships in orbit when they had plenty of defenses set up? It only caused a few seconds worth of a power-outage. Can it really be that strong?

《Jake,》came Marco's thought-speak in my head, gaining my wondering mind. 《Do you see that?》

There was nothing beneath him, so I let my falcon gaze wonder. About four miles to the southeast, I saw a flash of black running through the trees. Upon closer inspection, I made out arms pumping and legs stretching.

It was a girl close to Rachel's height and long, _long_ black hair. She wore a skirt ( /pin/47006389836484431/?source_app=android ) and black button-up shirt with bell sleeves ( us/ls-woven-top_ #dept=tps ), black flats, and thin black tights. Since she was running away from me, so I couldn't get a look at her face.

《You mean the girl?》 I asked my friend, unsure about why he would point her out. I mean, sure, a kid running through the woods at full speed was bizarre in and of itself, but not what we were looking for at the moment.

《Not just her,》 came Marco's surprisingly serious response. 《It's what's _after _her.》

This piqued my interest, causing me to look behind her. About 200 yards away were two dirt bikes and an all-terrain jeep speeding as fast as they could while simultaneously maneuvering between tree trunks so as not to crash. What made it even worse was the fact that strapped to either biker's back was a Dracon Beam.

《Are they?..》 I began to ask myself, not wanting to finish the question, but already knowing the answer.

《Controllers,》 he confirmed grimly.

If I could have, I would've been chewing on my lip. I knew this very well could be a trap set up by the Yeerks to get the 'Andalite bandits' to come out of hiding. They already suspected us Animorphs of using these woods as a refuge in the past. And, considering there aren't many other places for blue-furred, stalk-eyed, four-hooved, human-scorpion aliens to hide around humans, they weren't THAT far off. Only Ax and Tobias live in the forests, but they're closer to Cassie's barn than the mountains in case of emergencies. But, then again, it could also be a lucky civilian who escaped the Yeerks' clutches and is on the run. Or, not as likely but somewhat probable, it could even be an Andalite in a human morph being targeted. If that was true, and it was caught, then the enemy would have gained not only another morph-capable host, but all the knowledge that particular alien might hold in their head, which would be a double whammy for us.

《Don't plan anything crazy over there, Jake,》 warned Marco. You see, he's not only the jokester of our little band of misfits, but he's also the skeptic, rational thinker. He assumes the worst, and makes sure we all know the dangerous possibilities that comes from every action we do.

《It could be important,》 I argued.

《_Or,_ it's a _trap,_》 he stressed.

《She could need our help escaping.》

《Or help assist putting us into cages!》

《What if she's an Andalite, huh? She could have information on what we're looking for.》

《Jake, buddy, man, even _EREK _doesn't know what we're searching for. I doubt some random soon-to-be-prisoner will, either.》

《Maybe you're right, Marco. Maybe she IS just a human, but have you stopped to consider what would happen if we saved this one person from being a living puppet?》

He said nothing, so I took it as a opportunity to continue.

《We rescue this girl, and she goes home to her family un-infested. That's one less human-Controller we have to deal with later on, right? Now that she's free, she won't convince her parents to join the Sharing, where they would have been converted some time in the future. Her siblings also get to stay slug-free. Her friends, her parents' and siblings' friends are also out of the Yeerks' potential list of victims. That saves us a LOT more than just one life to have protected.》

Marco let out a heavy sigh that resonated inside my skull. 《So, what now, oh fearless leader?》

《Find Cassie and Rachael, then you all look for Ax and Tobias, and lead them all back here. I'm going to do what I can to keep these guys from catching the girl until you get back.》

I could practically hear the eye-roll in his words, despite thought-speech not having actual _voices _like normal talking does.

《Don't die.》

He flew off to do as instructed.

I mentally prepared myself for what was to come, exhaling oxygen from my avian lungs via the slits on my beak that acted as a nose.

_'Alright, Jake, you got this!'_

If that was true, then why was there a pit of dread lodged in my stomach?


	5. The Assistance

I circled the trees, trying to keep an eye on where the girl was running to. So far, it seemed she had no clue, and was just going in a random direction in hopes of ditching her pursuers. At this rate, she would most likely be caught as soon as she wore herself out. After all, the Yeerks had vehicles while she was on foot. They ran on gas, while she depended on the physical limitations the human body allows. If I was going to help, I had to act, and soon.

I quickly debated if I should talk to her, or if it would be too much risk, like Marco was telling me.

But, she needs help.

《Can you hear me, human?》I asked her, decided to go with as Andalite-sounding as I could manage.

Seeing her skid to a stop indicated that she, indeed, heard me. I saw her mouth move, and her look around in fear, but there was a problem with that. She was standing still while the Yeerks were still barreling down on her current location. If she stayed still for a few minutes more, she'd be at their mercy for sure.

《Keep running!》I practically yelled in her head, instantly spurring her on just as quickly as before. How was she not panting heavily? 《It appears that you require some assistance escaping the Yeerks. I cannot hear you, but I can guide you. You may be questioning where I am, how I know what is happening, and if you are able to trust me. But, human, think of your options carefully. You can take my assistance and possibly escape without being enslaved, or try your, as you humans say, luck without it, and see how long your lungs can carry you along against vehicles that do not feel fatigue.》

Even with my advanced eyesight, I couldn't see if she was mouthing a curse or agreement, just that her jaw seemed to be moving. Taking that as a sign of her cooperation, I dipped a wing to loose some altitude, but not enough to catch the eyes of the Yeerks closing in.

《Run straight for two Earth minutes, and then veer sharply to your left.》It was a good thing some of Ax's habits of speaking never went away, so that if she IS already infested, she won't know the difference.

Soon enough, I saw the girl do exactly as I said, taking her into a part of the woods with trees that clumped together in dense patches, making maneuvering a big jeep hard. The dirt bikes were going to be tougher to get around. However, when they came upon the packed trees, the Human-Controllers took off their Dracon Beams and readied to fire. This wasn't good at all.

《They have weapons trained on you,》I informed. 《Those are not regular guns. They fire high-powered energy bursts, as you might call _lasers_, and will burn anything they touch if not set to stun.》

As if the Ellimist had seen my strife, Marco spoke to me again.

《Everyone's here and accounted for. What next, oh-wise-one?》

Even despite the sardonic nature of his comment, I couldn't have felt more relieved. If we wanted this girl to get away from the Controllers alive, I needed all of their help.

《Alright. Rachel, Cassie, you guys run distraction. Marco, you go down there and wreck the path to make it even harder on the Yeerks. Ax, you're with me. That girl down there needs instructions, and none of us sound more Andalite than you. Alright, team, let's get to work!》

* * *

**?'s POV:**

Having a random voice in your head is strange on a normal day, but being chased by people through the woods for no reason, while they fire literal _laser guns _at you, and then having a disembodied voice speak to you like they're watching from somewhere you can't see them is beyond crazy, but you know what?

I'd say I'm almost used to it. Well, sort of.

Now, following the instructions of an unseen entity that may or may not be leading me to my death, I ran towards a clearing as told. The smaller vehicles were closing in -I think I had heard them being referred to as _'motorbikes'_, but I could be wrong. The people in the big one -a _jeep_? What an odd name- had long-since abandoned it as it was too wide to fit between the narrow spaces between the trees. Guess the voice can't be too bad if it's making their job harder.

Why are those people even chasing me? Why is this entity _helping _me? This is literally my third day in the outside world! How did I manage to mess up so bad for _divine intervention_ to step in and say, "Hey, you seem to be in quite the pickle. Need a hand?" That, in and of itself, has to be a world-record, or something.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand.

As I snapped out of my thoughts, a loud roar sounded around the area and then a sickening _'snap, crack, BOOM!'_ Oh, great. A freaking GRIZZLY BEAR showed up and knocked a tree down! Can my luck get any better?

《No need to be alarmed,》the voice said in what I think would be a calm tone if I could even _hear _such a thing from words popping up inside my head. 《That is simply an ally giving assistance.》

Now this thing can communicate with _bears_?! Remind me to not get on its bad side!

The people fired their laser guns at the bear, but it easily dropped down and rolled out of the way. I didn't knows bears could be so smart about dodging an attack, honestly. Come to think about it, I don't know much about bears in general, or anything, really. But I know enough to figure out that the bear must be trained or something.

Suddenly, a wolf was running beside me. It actually got in front of me, making me stop and realize I had reached the clearing that was my destination from the entity in my head. The wolf squatted down, not quite touching its belly to the ground, but was low enough for me to see over it now.

《Go ahead. It is safe to mount the canine.》

Well, if the mysterious voice insists...

"Nice doggy," I muttered, slowly placing one leg over the large animal's back. It didn't snarl, so I guess it was just as okay with me as the entity said. "Please, don't rip my arm off and use it as a chew toy.."

Soon, I had lowered my butt down onto it's spine like I was sitting on top of a smaller horse with all limbs still secured to my person, and it rose up to its full height. I was a bit worried about grasping the fur, but at the prompting of the voice to hold on tightly, I did so anyways. The wolf showed no problem with having my extra weight on it, and, admittedly, I didn't expect it to. I probably weigh 98 pounds soaking wet, if that. When it started running, I tucked my feet up against its body to ensure they didn't scrape the ground and break. That wouldn't be a good thing if I needed to hop up and run soon.

"The Andalite's escaping!" I heard someone shout, just as a laser burnt a shrub that we passed by like nothing.

"Stop them!" another yelled, more beams whizzing over or past my head. "Don't let them take the girl, or the Visser will have our heads!"

There was more shouting, and roaring, but the wind whipping past my ears made it hard to make out the rest of what they were saying. Squinting my eyes against the conditions subjected to them, I couldn't help but mutter to the wolf even if it couldn't understand me.

"I sure hope you know where we're going, cause I don't.."

The next thing I knew, I was suddenly thrown forward, the wolf no longer under me. There was a loud yelp of pain, distinctly canine in origin, the smell of burning hair or fur, and then my head made contact with something hard and sharp.

Everything went dark.


	6. The Girl

_**Alright, Aria's eyes are Caribbean blue, and either Ink or Marble grey.**_

_**Onwards!**_

Looking back on it, I'd say we were lucky. Sure, Cassie got hit with a Dracon Beam, the stranger hit her head on a sharp and rather large rock, Rachel was doing her Grizzly bear rampage, and Marco was trying to throw big saplings, logs, and rocks at the Human-Controllers while banging his gorilla fists against his chest, but it could have been worse, right?

Okay, maybe not. But I can be optimistic about things.

《A little help would be nice!》 Rachel huffed, exasperated.

I told Ax to get down there and help Marco and her fight back the Yeerks. I'd help Cassie and the girl. Flying down well away from any prying alien/human eyes, I demorphed back into my human body. Contrary to popular belief for fiction writers out there, you can't just change from one animal to another. The morphing process has to be done from your original body. Sure, it's exhausting to do multiple morphs in a row, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

《Cassie,》 I said as soon as I could, which was well into my second morph. 《Demorph. We're far enough away from the battle that you're out of sight.》

The wolf on the ground whimpered softly as it slowly started shifting into a human. I used my new, large body to keep her out of sight just in case. We always take extra precautions.

《Do you think you can morph a horse? We need speed, and something that's easier to keep that girl from falling off.》

"Uh.. yeah.. Yeah, I'm good... Just, a bit disoriented. Give me a second..."

《Make it a quick second. I need to take Marco's place so he can do the lifting. A tiger's paws aren't the gentlest.》

"Right.. right."

Cassie's always been the most majestic at morphing. She had a way of controlling the otherwise outlandish process into doing what she wanted. Once, she morphed out of a butterfly, and kept the wings while everything else about her was human. It was beautiful, really.

Now was not one of those times. Perhaps it was do to being shot with a Dracon Beam. Injuries don't carry over per morph since it relies on DNA, and not memory. She wasn't hurt anymore, and wouldn't be even if she were to become her wolf again, but it did leave us feeling more drained than usual.

Once there was a fully-grown mare before my feline eyes, I slunk off towards the commotion and joined the fray, silently letting Marco know that he was needed back at the clearing. We fought with all our might, doing are best to keep them from pushing past us. We had to buy Cassie and Marco enough time to get a good distance away before retreating. Preferably, we'd be able to knock them out, slash their tires, and be on our way.

"Is she still unconscious," I asked, the nervousness I felt not showing in my voice. I couldn't let them know how uncertain I was as the leader.

《Yes, Prince Jake. It appears as though she hit her cranium rather harshly.》

"Is it safe for Cassie to tend to her wound?" There was a short pause.

《Yes, Prince Jake. I am certain that the human female is not going to awaken any time soon.》

Hearing this, I nodded to Cassie. She grabbed her supply box and slowly entered the abandoned cabin. It was the same ran-down shack that I was kept in while I was infested by a Yeerk. Not very pleasant memories, if you ask me.

Once Cassie had ensured that, yes, Ax was right and the girl was still tied up and asleep, she motioned for us to come in as well. She sat in front of the girl, opened the white medical box, and took out some gauze and a small container. The four of us wordlessly watched her wipe away the partially dried blood and patch up the cut.

"Good news is," she said, after examining her head. "It's not too deep, so her skull shouldn't be fractured. We'll just have to change out the band-aid every so-often to clean it, and that should prevent any infection. Marco and Ax will have to take turns doing it once she wakes up, if we want to keep our secret safe."

"Wha- why me?!" my best friend asked, confused.

"You have one of the only morphs that had opposable thumbs that isn't human, and Ax naturally has fingers," she calmly explained.

While they were discussing that, I couldn't help but look at the girl's face. I hadn't been able to get a good look at her earlier during the battle, but she looked familiar to me. Not so much so that I'd say I knew her well, but well enough to know that she hadn't just passed me in the streets once. As Cassie finished speaking to Marco -more like he had just moved on to arguing with Rachel-, she went on to open the girl's eyelids to see signs of a concussion, or something like that. I saw her eyes for the first time, and I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

One blue eye, and one gray.

"It's her," I said, not even realizing I was speaking aloud instead of in my head.

The name Visser Three had bellowed out between bouts of gleeful and cruel laughter in my nightmare came rushing back to mind. I repeated it in a whisper, almost disbelieving.

"_Aria_..."


	7. The Skepticism

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Marco said, moving his hands about in a 'stop-the-tracks' motion. "_What_ did you just say?"

"He said 'Aria'. Are you deaf, now, too?"

"I _know _what he said," he snapped at Rachel, for once not in the mood to pick a pointless argument. "I was asking again in case he was pulling our legs. Are you?" He turned to me, desperately staring at me like he'd find a trace of amusement on my face.

There was none.

Marco started pacing, a habit he does when he gets anxious about something. The short boy ran a hand down his face.

"Let me get this straight. We risked our butts off and possible _slavery to alien slugs_ because this girl," he gestured to the still unconscious Aria, "is _possibly_ the reasons for the blackout, or knows where to find said reason is, and she turns out to be _the sole person _in _your dream_, which, by the way, have freakishly predicted the future on a couple occasions, who Visser Three _personally named responsible _for our capture?"

I shrugged. He had nailed all the basic points on the head, more or less. "Yeah, pretty much."

"And, I'm assuming we're still planning to watch her for three days to assure there isn't a Yeerk inside her head, right?"

Another nod. "Yup."

"And if she _doesn't _have one? Are we going to believe a word she says? She could be a voluntary host who just-so-happened to be in-between Kadrona feedings."

Rachel hummed in agreement, for once not seeing a problem with Marco's line of reasoning. "That's true. We've seen voluntary hosts before at the Yeerk Pool. It could be a cleaver rouse to earn our trust, and betray us later on."

"Look," I said, sounding more exhausted than I planned. "We don't have much of a choice here. The Yeerks want this girl, and she could very well be a useful asset to them, and that's a risk we can't take. If anything, we can ask Erek to pull a few strings and come out here to question her himself. He can look like anyone, after all, and the Yeerks won't know who he is if he uses another hologram. He and Ax both can do the questioning, if it makes you feel better, but my gut's telling me there's more to this than meets the eye."

Marco, true to his skeptic and sarcastic nature, looked incredulous, nose wrinkled in displeasure. "And, what, oh-wise-prophet, would that be?"

"The Yeerks seemed surprised and caught off-guard with the power-outage, and before you say it was acting," I responded, giving him a look because, knowing Marco, he'd throw his two cents in if he wasn't caught beforehand, "think about it. Visser Three was frantic. According to Erek, he was killing his subordinates more than usual. With how few humans they have a hosts compared to how many are un-infested, he can't afford to do those kinds of things for the sake of acting. Not to mention how much time and effort they're putting in to track the source down. They really think Andalites are building a super weapon that will severely cripple the Yeerk army, which is odd because we aren't _doing _anything like that. And the actual Andalites won't come back to Earth after their last experience. So, the question isn't whether or not she's a Yeerk informant, but _who_ is she working for, because it obviously isn't any alien we've met."

By the looks exchanged around the room, and Ax's stiff tale, I could tell they understood what I was implying. Our war between Humans and Yeerks may have gained another ally...

Or another enemy.

It was decided it would be best we didn't interact with Aria too much, or else we risked giving away vital and fatal information. The three days we watched her, she would ask various questions whenever Ax or Marco came by to check on her wound (Ax as his normal self, and Marco as his gorilla. I don't think she expected Marco to talk, but the first time she saw Ax was very entertaining from what Tobias described). She would also call out randomly whenever she couldn't see anyone but got hungry. We would take turns bringing her sandwiches and water, always in morph, of course, to ensure our identities stayed safe.

Let's just say that she acted calmer than a normal person would if a giant tiger brought them lunch in a bag. But, the thing was, she didn't act with disgust when Ax touched her head to fix her injury like I had when the Yeerk was controlling me, which only makes me believe more that she has nothing to do with them.

Then who does she work with?

I know I was the one who proposed a third party being responsible for her and all, but I just couldn't figure out who. The Yeerks would more than likely find out if another alien species landed on Earth in the middle of their infestation, but us humans didn't have the means capable of blowing up the Yeerk Dome Ship with anything less than missiles and nukes, but for us to do anything about said alien ship, then we would have to know about the invasion in the first place.

The reason that's ruled out is because if we found out about the Yeerks, they would stop their subtle approach to infest us, and wage a full-on war. They only aren't doing such a thing because it would kill viable hosts that they can add to their ranks. Once they have all of Earth in their army, they would finally have the numbers to take on Andalites, and probably win. And it's not a government secret or anything, because the Yeerks have some Controllers in very high-up places in the government. Not the president -we prevented that-, but very influential people who might be privy to such sensitive information, who would then relay it back to the Visser, and then it would be total warfare.

Was the Ellimist involved? No, he said he could never _directly_ influence anything, only _add __incentive_. The same goes for the Crayak, so that's out as well.

I swear sometimes that if the Yeerks don't end up killing me in battle, then the stress of living a double-life surely will knock quite a few years off my lifespan. All we could do until we were sure of anything is hope that her comrades or whatever don't find us any time soon. Ax assured that she had no tracking devices on her, but we could never be too sure.

I still had to make a visit to Erek, so, as Rachel and I switched shifts with Tobias and Ax for the evening to morning shift, I went over what I would ask him when I got there.

"No."

My eyes widened in surprise at how quick Erek was to answer me. I had barely gotten to get my question out before he made up his mind. Although, I suppose he isn't human, after all.

I took a deep breath before trying again.

"We can't risk questioning her ourselves, but you-"

"Can become whichever person I desire. If I recall, you and the others can do the same thing with morphing."

"But you can be people who don't exist! If we use a human to morph without their consent, we'd be no better than the Yeerks." This was a moral dilemma before, with Cassie making an adamant case for not morphing sentient creatures unless absolutely necessary. "If it's being violent that you're worried about, then you don't need to. All we want is for you and Ax to ask her some questions we supply, and see if she lies about anything. No coercing, no threats."

The Chee android looked a bit skeptical for a moment longer before seemingly sighing. It can be weird how human his hologram can be without him having to think too much about it.

"Alright, but I won't do anything harmful to her. You know pacifism is written into my code."

I nodded, shoulders sagging in relief. It's true. The Pemalites made the Chee to be like them: peaceful, kind, and loyal. Violence was not a thing they knew, up until they were nearly wiped out by the Howlers, the Crayak's creations.

"Thanks, Erek. Really."

He chuckled softly and gave a small smile.

"It's alright. You'll just owe me one." He winked playfully, telling me he didn't mean it. There isn't much I could do for him that he couldn't do for himself, anyways.


End file.
